Every year, more than one million Americans with cardiovascular disease have stents inserted to prop open clogged arteries leading to the heart. Overall, these stenting procedures are highly effective, but a minority of patients can develop complications. “Stent thrombosis is when a clot forms due to the reaction of your blood to the materials that have been placed in the artery,” says Dr. Jean-Sebastien Hulot from The Mount Sinai Medical Center. “Somewhere between one and three percent of patients who receive a stent develop stent thrombosis, so it’s a rare problem, but a serious one.” Learn more